by Chris Fox
“We saw what that did in the Dims, Sarge,” Kez pointed out. “Aran’s right. Bord and I will take care of the reporter. I’ll keep her in sight, and Bord can get a ward up around her as needed.”
Something metallic pounded up the deck in the hallway outside the airlock and the squad shifted instinctively into a defensive posture.
A moment later, a figure in Mark V spellarmor strode into view, then stopped just outside the door. A pair of small black drones zipped up in the suit’s wake, their cameras whirring as they moved to circle the squad.
The figure popped off its helmet, and a river of white hair spilled out. It framed a face that had once been beautiful, and had aged gracefully into handsome. She eyed them hawkishly, her expression unreadable.
“Good morning, Captain.” She gave Aran a grim smile. “I’m Erica Tharn. Combat reporter and archeologist of the First Order. I can’t fight, but I assure you I can take care of myself. I’m pretty slippery.”
“Lady, I don’t mean any disrespect,” Bord piped up, “but you’ve got to be pushing ninety. You should be on a couch somewhere knitting, not diving into enemy fire.”
Tharn raised an eyebrow. “Your concern is touching. I will be fine.” She turned to Aran. “Captain, whenever you’re ready.”
The Hunter shook again.
“All right, you can go. Keep us between you and hostile targets, and don’t do anything stupid that will get one of my people killed.” Aran turned back to the outer door. “Cycle the door behind you. We need to get moving.”
Tharn replaced her helmet, and the instant the airlock door slid shut behind them, Aran slapped the red button for the outer door. The door retracted into the ceiling, and screaming wind filled the room. Streamers of dense, black smoke billowed out around them, obscuring their view of the battle.
“Deploy.” Aran leapt out the airlock, and into chaos.
31
Not in All My Years
Aran burst into a hail of anti-air fire, white rounds streaking up from the ground below. He twisted to dodge as one passed through the space he’d just occupied, then winced when it slammed into the Hunter’s aft hull with a deafening explosion.
The Krox lines snaked through every ravine, coating every valley in the mountainous region below. Vacant, dead expressions stared up at them, from the corpses of soldiers who’d once served this world.
Here and there, towering monstrosities crushed their way through the ranks. Aran recognized them as rock elementals, primal creatures infused with earth magic. They were ponderously slow, but every footfall shook the ground enough to send corpses tumbling. They’d been animated from the local mountains, granite faces that had stood up and started laying waste to the land around them.
Aran spared a glance at his company, and relaxed a hair when he counted all four—five, if you included their new pet reporter.
“What’s the plan, LT?” Crewes called over the comm. He hovered not far from Kheross, his cannon ‘accidentally’ aimed at the Wyrm.
Kheross was still in human form, and Aran could feel the void magic keeping him aloft. He seemed unconcerned with Crewes, and instead his eyes scanned the area below.
“Follow me,” Aran called back, “We’ll stay low and hug those hills as we make for the facility. Don’t use your spell amplification unless absolutely necessary. We want to save that.”
Aran dropped into a steep dive, corkscrewing around enemy fire as he approached the hills below. He studied the enemy movements, and noticed that three of the rock elementals had moved into a tight cluster, next to an overhang that blocked his view.
“They’re not moving like the others. Looks like they’re shielding something,” Aran said into the comm. “I’m betting that’s their access point. If we can overwhelm them, maybe we can use their own tunnel to get inside.”
“Contact!” Crewes barked.
Aran spun in midair, his training taking over. Three black-scaled Wyrms dove at them from above, gliding silently down on them. They weren’t the largest they’d ever faced, but they were large enough to be a threat.
“Kheross, you wanted some Krox,” Aran boomed over the suit’s loudspeaker. “You’re on.”
“As you wish, Outrider.” Kheross’s form, which had been streaking toward the valley below, suddenly arrested all momentum. His body began to ripple, exactly as it had back in the hangar.
Aran tore his gaze away and focused on their attackers. Two of the dragons were already fixed on Kheross, perhaps because they recognized one of their own. The last dove toward Bord and Kez, ichor dripping from massive jaws as it flew closer.
Aran opened his void pocket and smoothly withdrew his rifle. Narlifex pulsed a greeting, but he left him inside as he closed the pocket. The rifle snapped to his shoulder almost of its own accord, and he sighted down the barrel at the Wyrm diving for Kezia.
She hovered in midair using the new M9 thruster Kazon had sent with the armor, her hammer clutched in both hands. Bord waited behind her, and their new reporter friend flew just past him. They were lined up perfectly for the Wyrm’s breath attack.
Aran didn’t give the Wyrm a chance to take advantage. He poured fire, void, and air into his rifle, and a moment later it kicked back into his shoulder. The barrel disgorged a pulsing ball of mixed magical energy that sailed into the Wyrm’s back, right where the muscles attached to the wing.
It wasn’t the first time Aran had used that move, but hey, why change what worked? He smiled grimly as the wing tore loose. The Wyrm screeched as it clawed frantically at the air around it.
A moment later its flight stabilized, and it whirled to fix a venomous glance on Aran. “I too have void magic, little human. I do not need wings to fly.”
“They do make it easier to dodge though,” Aran pointed out.
The Wyrm didn’t see Crewes, who was approaching on the creature’s six. The sergeant’s cannon bucked and a spear of solid, blue ice pierced the creature’s back, just over the lung. It screeched weakly, and began clawing at the ice lance it suddenly found jutting from its chest.
Aran risked a glance at Kheross, who dove and wheeled with the other two Wyrms. They snapped at each other like wolves, and thus far no one had established an advantage. Kheross was larger than either Krox, but they’d clearly worked together before and kept trying to flank him. Kheross was holding his own though, for now.
Aran turned back to his target, and chose the most expedient way to finish the dragon. He triggered the first counterspell potion, and a ball of sapphire streaked toward the Wyrm. It exploded into a cloud of crystals, which spun around the Wyrm, then disappeared.
The Wyrm began to fall once more, the void magic keeping it aloft violently stripped away. It picked up speed, and by the time it slammed into a handful of corpses in a ravine below, the detonation was large enough to trigger a massive wall of smoke and dust. That provided cover from the ground fire below, giving Aran the freedom to deal with the other two Wyrms.
He flipped around and willed the armor to maximum speed. Aran shot back up into the air, drawing level with Kheross and his two opponents. He opened his void pocket, dumped the rifle back inside, then seized Narlifex’s hilt.
We. Kill. The words thrummed with pleasure.
“Yep, time for a little dragon murder, bud.” Aran wrapped both armored hands around the hilt, but paused as a sudden thought occurred to him. Narlifex had grown back in the hangar, and his size made Aran want to adopt a two-handed style.
In spellarmor, however, Narlifex could still easily be wielded in one hand. Aran shifted the blade to his right hand, then snapped his left wrist down to activate the spellshield. He’d rarely used it on his last few suits of armor, because Drakkon style focused on offense. Now that he had his memories back and truly understood Drakkon style he could finally adapt it as he saw fit.
He zipped toward the trio of Wyrms, assessing the combat as he approached. The smallest Wyrm bled from a hideous gash in his chest, but the scales on Kheross’s draconi
c face had been rent from a slash that had very nearly taken out his right eye.
Aran poured void into his armor to increase his mass, then streaked toward the closest Wyrm. He approached from the rear, and delivered a wicked slash to the dragon’s tail. Narlifex burst into sudden flaming brilliance, and the blade sliced all the way through dense scales, flesh, and bone alike, severing the tail where it met the tailbone.
He flipped backwards, but not quickly enough. The enraged Wyrm twisted gracefully, and its snarling face whipped around in Aran’s direction. The Wyrm was the smallest of the three, but those jaws were still large enough to swallow him whole.
Aran sent a surge of air magic into his spellshield, and the energy crackled around the spinning sigils. He slammed the dragon in the snout, and used the momentum to spin away. The jaws snapped shut in his wake, and both clawed hands were already moving to seize him.
Kheross’s much larger jaws abruptly clamped down around the creature’s neck from behind, and he shook it violently. The tail-less Wyrm screamed weakly, but Kheross’s clawed hands ripped into its chest over the wound Crewes had inflicted, tearing out a still beating heart. Kheross snapped it up greedily, then released his dead opponent. The mutilated Wyrm fluttered into the storm of dust raised by its companion’s demise.
Aran scanned the sky for the final Wyrm, and located his corpse on one of the rocky slopes blow. “Looks like we’re clear for now. Nice work, people. Let’s get down to those rock elementals.”
One of Tharn’s drones whirred past, the camera clearly focused on him. Aran ignored it, and focused on the battle.
He guided his armor lower and hugged the ridgeline as he approached the rock elementals. Their size became evident as he closed, “These things are a good forty meters tall.”
“Man they grow ‘em big here,” Sarge called over the comm. “What’s the play, LT?”
“Kheross, you’re got a breath weapon, right? One that uses void magic?” Aran asked. They were coming up fast, and he didn’t have a lot of time left to form a plan.
“I do,” Kheross roared. His shadow passed directly over Crewes. “If I unleash it I can envelop all three elementals.”
Kheross didn’t wait for an okay, instead dropping into a steep dive that carried him ahead of the rest of the company. His scaled chest swelled as he sucked in a breath, and he unleashed that breath when he’d reached the elementals. A river of darkness boiled out to completely envelop all three rocky figures. It briefly obscured them from view, and when it cleared they were simply…gone.
The power of it chilled Aran to the core. This monster had been living in their midst for weeks.
He shook himself back to the moment. “Follow me.”
Aran dropped into a climb that mirrored Kheross, and sailed under the rocky outcrop the elementals had been shielding. A wide tunnel entrance led into the darkness. The sides were completely smooth, as if bored by magic. Where there was magic of this magnitude, there was also a mage.
He paused before the tunnel entrance as the squad arrived. He noticed that the reporter seemed to have no trouble keeping up. Both of her drones hovered near her, their lenses whirring as they recorded everything.
Aran focused on the tunnel mouth. “I’m betting there’s a binder in there, probably with a few enforcers for defense. Let’s play this cautiously. Kez, Bord, you’re in the lead. Advance with a ward. Sarge, I want you to engage any defenders the binder has. I’ll deal with the mage.”
“And me?” Kheross roared as he landed next to them. Each sweep of his mighty wings kicked up a hail of grit, which pinged off Aran’s armor.
“Rear guard. I want you to shift back to human form and make sure nothing follows us into the tunnel. The Krox will almost certainly respond to our incursion. Now let’s move.” Aran zipped into the tunnel without waiting for a response. Kezia sprinted past him with Bord on her shoulders.
Bord patted her shoulder as they passed. “It ain’t the way I want to be mountin’ you, love, but I’ll take what I can get.”
The pair fell silent when a ghostly, white glow appeared in the distance.
“Spirit magic,” Kez said. “Looks like you were right, sir.”
“There’s probably two binders then. One using earth to tunnel, and the other standing guard with spirit. Let’s blitz them, people.”
Kezia burst into a loping run, and Bord raised both hands. A latticework of brilliant, white sigils exploded around him, protecting both him and Kezia behind a shimmering ward. They sprinted down the tunnel, and Aran sailed just behind them.
He considered grabbing his rifle again, since he could use Kezia as cover, but decided against it. Combat shifted quickly in close quarters and he wanted to be able to react.
A trio of ghostly balls shot up the tunnel and slammed into Bord’s ward. They disappeared with a few discolored ripples, but had no other visible effect on the ward. Kezia redoubled her pace, and Aran increased his to match.
Light glittered off scales, perhaps twenty meters up the hall. Beyond that, he could see faint, fluorescent lights, the kind that Ternus used. The Krox must have broken into the facility.
“Now, Bord!” Kez yelled. Bord rolled off her shoulders, and came to his feet next to Kez.
She brought her hammer around in a tremendous swing, and a draconic scream echoed up the tunnel.
Aran plastered himself against the tunnel roof and zipped past Kezia, and past the enforcer she’d just crushed. He scanned the darkness, and sure enough, there were two binders. Both were focused on Kezia, though the closest did look up in time to see Aran.
We. KILL.
Aran brought Narlifex around in a sweeping slash. The blade smoldered as it met the Krox’s throat, a streamer of smoke rising as the headless hatchling fell to the ground.
The final Krox binder raised a clawed hand and began expertly sketching spirit and earth sigils. Aran gave a savage grin as he triggered a second counterspell potion. A ball of blue shot from his armor, and shattered the Krox’s spell.
Crewes pounded past Aran. “I got dibs on this stain.” His cannon bucked, and a wave of superheated flame washed over the unfortunate Krox. The creature shrieked once, then its charred, smoking corpse collapsed to the ground.
Aran’s frantic breathing began to slow. They’d done it. “All right people, let’s get into the hole the Krox made.” He turned back to the tunnel. “We’ll have Kheross collapse it behind us.”
The rest of the company filed by him into a chromed hallway. The last to pass was Tharn, and she paused next to him, her drones whirring in her wake. “In all my years, I’ve never seen anything like that. I’m already uploading my footage. I’m going to make you a gods’ damned hero.”
Aran didn’t have the energy to reply. He knew this was just the beginning. The Krox had been unprepared for his assault, but they’d recover quickly.
A purple glow came up the tunnel and Kheross approached. “They followed. I…encouraged them to cease their pursuit.”
“Can you collapse the tunnel in our wake?” Aran asked.
Kheross glanced up at the ceiling, then nodded.
“Do it.” Aran stepped inside the facility.
32
Ternus
“Good morning, Pickus.” Voria inclined her head at the fiery-haired tech as he peered up over his glasses at her, his freckled face bathed by the portable computer terminal sitting in his lap. “What do we have today?”
She strode onto the bridge, which currently appeared to be the bridge of the Big Texas, the tiny ship Voria had flown into the depths in search of Neith. It was where she’d met the tech, and apparently it was the place he found most comfortable since the bridge automatically reflected the subconscious desires of the pilot. It harkened back to a world a great deal simpler than the one he’d so recently entered.
“Morning, ma’am.” He inclined his head back, then his gaze shifted back to the computer screen. “We’re making some real progress. The drifters are surprisingly industrious
, especially considering the bad rap they seem to have back on Shaya. They’re making short work of the corruption on decks A and B. We’ve cleared out all the habitable areas, and we ain’t even reached Ternus yet. They’ve even set up a bar, apparently.”
That eased something in Voria, a tension she hadn’t realized she’d been laboring under. Leaving Shaya meant cutting off the aid from the life mages Eros had lent them. The drifters were powerful mages in their own right, and had gleefully taken to the task of cleaning up sludge.
“Anything else of note?” Voria asked as she moved to stand near the Big Texas’s viewscreen, the technological equivalent of a scry-screen. The First Spellship had rendered the illusion perfectly, right down to the faint, musty smell that always pervaded the bridge of her short-lived vessel. The vessel that had, ultimately, led her here.
“I completed the resources report.” Pickus looked up again, and his face split into a gap-toothed grin. “Ninety-six qualified tech mages came with us from Shaya, and at least one of every aspect is represented. Obviously it skews toward life, but that’s probably a good thing given the war. We’re staffed enough to be a mobile hospital at this point.”
Ikadra’s sapphire pulsed forlornly. “This ship was used as a hospital once before. Shaya was the vessel’s caretaker.”
Voria noted the dejected tone, which had been a constant since Nara had left with the Talon. No one had seen that coming, but Ikadra had been the hardest hit. Even harder than Aran, and he’d been the closest with the treacherous woman.
“And it will be again.” Voria squared her shoulders. “Pickus, add an addendum to your report to Ternus High Command. Tell them we are opening the Spellship to all wounded for the duration of the crisis, and organize our life mages to support the initiative.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She winced at that. “I am not your mother, Pickus. One does not address one’s superior as ma’am in the Confederate Marines.”
